{"id":59208,"date":"2026-10-20T13:59:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-20T18:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=59208"},"modified":"2026-10-20T13:59:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T18:59:26","slug":"jahaun-stafford-set-for-november-trial-in-grand-forks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/jahaun-stafford-set-for-november-trial-in-grand-forks\/","title":{"rendered":"Ja\u2019Haun Stafford Set for November Trial in Grand Forks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ja\u2019Haun Stafford Set for November Trial in Grand Forks<\/h2>\n

GRAND FORKS, ND (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2013 A Grand Forks man facing several criminal charges, including Class AA felony gross sexual imposition, is scheduled to stand trial in November after a judge allowed him to withdraw his previous guilty pleas.<\/p>\n

Ja\u2019Haun Kardelle Stafford, 40, is scheduled for trial November 2\u20136, 2026, in a case involving allegations dating back to February 2024.<\/p>\n

Stafford faces four charges, including gross sexual imposition, child abuse, felonious restraint, and wearing a mask during the commission of a criminal offense.<\/p>\n

Sexual Assault Allegations Date Back to 2024<\/h2>\n

According to court documents described in the report, Grand Forks police responded to a sexual assault in progress at approximately 9:15 a.m. on February 20, 2024.<\/p>\n

The alleged victim, identified in court documents as Juvenile Jane Doe, told investigators she woke up to Stafford on top of her.<\/p>\n

She alleged that Stafford covered her mouth and touched her inappropriately. According to the court documents, she scratched at him while attempting to resist, and he eventually left the bedroom.<\/p>\n

Stafford reportedly told investigators that he was acting out a scenario in which he pretended to be a burglar.<\/p>\n

He denied intentionally touching the alleged victim inappropriately but acknowledged that contact could have occurred during the incident, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Previous Alford Pleas Withdrawn<\/h2>\n

On November 13, 2025, Stafford entered Alford pleas in connection with the case.<\/p>\n

An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors have sufficient evidence to potentially secure a conviction.<\/p>\n

However, the case took another turn after the alleged victim submitted a letter to prosecutors on February 13, recanting portions of her earlier statements.<\/p>\n

In the letter, she reportedly stated that Stafford had acted out the scenario but had not touched her inappropriately. She also said she had exaggerated earlier allegations of misconduct.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors challenged aspects of that recantation, stating in a court filing that Stafford had previously acknowledged certain conduct to law enforcement.<\/p>\n

The prosecution also referenced earlier concerns expressed by the alleged victim about possible attempts to influence or bribe her regarding her statements.<\/p>\n

\"Ja\u2019Haun<\/a>
Ja\u2019Haun Kardelle Stafford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Judge Grants Request to Withdraw Pleas<\/h2>\n

On April 17, shortly before Stafford’s scheduled sentencing, defense attorneys filed a motion seeking permission to withdraw the Alford pleas.<\/p>\n

Judge Jay Knudson granted that request on July 16, allowing the case to proceed toward trial.<\/p>\n

The withdrawal means the previous pleas no longer resolve the criminal charges. The allegations remain subject to court proceedings.<\/p>\n

Evidence Hearing Ahead of November Trial<\/h2>\n

Stafford is scheduled for a hearing Thursday, October 22, concerning what evidence may be presented to jurors.<\/p>\n

Defense attorneys have asked the court to exclude evidence of Stafford’s previous pleas.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors indicated they do not intend to mention the pleas at trial but opposed the defense motion as overly broad.<\/p>\n

The case is scheduled for a jury trial November 2\u20136.<\/p>\n

Serious Felony Charges Remain Pending<\/h2>\n

The most serious allegation, Class AA felony gross sexual imposition, carries a potential maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole under North Dakota law.<\/p>\n

Stafford also faces Class C felony charges of child abuse and felonious restraint, along with a Class A misdemeanor charge involving wearing a mask during the commission of a criminal offense.<\/p>\n

No verdict has been reached on the pending charges.<\/p>\n

Stafford is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ja\u2019Haun Stafford, 40, is scheduled for a November trial in Grand Forks after a judge allowed him to withdraw previous Alford pleas in a sexual assault case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[1065,27836,17285,5731,820,457,27834,7045,27833,7854,27835,1077,15024,27831,27832,27837,151,15286,1603,27838,1068,786,1506],"class_list":["post-59208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-accused","tag-alford-plea-withdrawal","tag-child-abuse-charge","tag-felonious-restraint","tag-forks","tag-grand","tag-grand-forks-criminal-trial","tag-grand-forks-police-department","tag-grand-forks-sexual-assault-case","tag-gross","tag-gross-sexual-imposition-north-dakota","tag-herald","tag-imposition","tag-jahaun-kardelle-stafford","tag-jahaun-stafford","tag-judge-jay-knudson","tag-man","tag-north-dakota-court-news","tag-november","tag-november-2026-trial","tag-sexual","tag-trf-news","tag-trial","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59208"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59208\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59227,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59208\/revisions\/59227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}